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Media Digest 2-11-2010

In this edition, you’ll read about the push that the Children’s Alliance is part of to protect the state’s Working Connections Child Care program from cuts and a new report about the growing demand for food assistance as more families slip into poverty. You’ll also read about state lawmakers taking necessary steps to raise revenue and protect vital services for children and families.

Inside the governor’s proposed budget are cuts to the welfare
program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and to Working
Connections, the child care program that helps qualifying parents pay
for day care while they’re entering the job market. Restricting Working
Connections will be a setback for the effort to achieve economic
stability for the working poor in the post-welfare reform era. And
cutting welfare would send an estimated 13,000 children over an
economic precipice.

We should call it what it is — America’s shame. A new Hunger in America 2010 report shows that 37 million people — one in eight —
receive emergency food each year through the nation’s network of food
banks and the agencies they serve. The hungry include 14 million
children and nearly 3 million senior citizens. In a nation of
unprecedented wealth, this is a national shame.

The state Senate voted late Wednesday to temporarily suspend
tax-limiting Initiative 960 in its entirety, including a requirement
for a public advisory vote on tax increases that are deemed an
emergency by lawmakers.

State House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, is blessing a
proposal to triple the state's tax on oil, pesticides and other
chemicals. House Bill 3181 would triple the "hazardous substances" tax, raising up to $250 million a year. But in the short term, the proposal would allow legislators to divert much of the money to the state general fund, which faces a $2.7 billion shortfall this year.

Washington's budget shortfall grew by about $96 million
Wednesday morning as lawmakers received the latest forecast of
caseloads and enrollment costs for schools, health care and services
for the poor and disabled.

The magnitude of this recession means that economic recovery
will be lengthy and painful, especially for those of us who don’t make
a living on Wall Street. In times like these, we count on public investments that provide health
care to the millions of people who have lost coverage and unemployment
insurance for the millions who have lost their jobs. But we can’t continue
making these investments if we keep giving tax cuts to the wealthiest
people in this country.

It turns out that there's one place you can go to improve
learning and health at the same time: the elementary school playground.
A growing body of research suggests that playing games like kickball or
four square at recess may be the secret to a successful school day and
building a lifetime of health.

About Children's Alliance

At the Children’s Alliance, we’re advocates for kids. We ensure that laws, policies and programs work for kids, and we hold our leaders accountable until they secure the resources required to make all children safe and healthy.